


book day

by charjace



Series: it's a dark place without you [11]
Category: Julie and The Phantoms (TV 2020)
Genre: M/M, mentions of past suicide attempt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-14
Updated: 2021-03-14
Packaged: 2021-03-22 04:41:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,641
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30033195
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/charjace/pseuds/charjace
Summary: They were just about finished the first chapter when Reggie came and found them, Reggie was looking fondly at the pair. It still kind of stunned Reggie that he now has a partner who is okay with El, and his relationship with his sister. Granted, his last relationship was well not the best in many different ways.  “You found a book?” Reggie asks, and El nods her head.
Relationships: Luke Patterson/Reggie Peters (Julie and The Phantoms)
Series: it's a dark place without you [11]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2154378
Kudos: 23





	book day

Sitting at the kitchen table, Reggie smiles towards his sister who was happily eating her cereal as he ate his toast. She smiles brightly at him, and they eat in quiet before he takes her bowl, placing it in the sink to clean later. El picks up her bag, and ran for the door – ready for school. She probably wants to meet her friends, and he couldn’t help but smile at the idea. So, he quickly grabs his keys and follows El out to his car. When they’re outside her school, he tells her, “It’s Book Day today. I’ll pick you up, and we can go pick out a book.”

“Is Luke coming?” El asks, and Reggie’s eyes go wide for a few reasons.

“Hey! El! You said  _ Luke _ , I’m proud of you,” Reggie exclaims happily, and watched as his sister’s eyes did the same. He holds his hand up for her to high-five and she does enthusiastically. It’s a slow process to get there, but El’s pronunciation of her ‘ _ L’s _ are getting better especially with words she constantly uses. Reggie knows a speech therapist would have helped, but he could never afford it. “You can get ice cream for that.”

El beamed at her brother, “Yay!” She says, or well almost yells in excitement. Reggie is thanking his lucky stars that tomorrow was Saturday and he didn’t have work, because El probably wouldn’t be getting to sleep any time before nine pm tonight. “So is he?”

“I don’t know, do you want him too?” Reggie asks, he didn’t want to just  _ bring _ Luke along to this day for a few reasons. One, being this was an awful day for them all and he didn’t know if Luke and Alex would still be doing  _ their _ thing. Also, this for years had only been a thing between him and El (and Jess before she died), he didn’t know if El would welcome Luke tagging along. She never did like Katy when she tried to tag along when he had dated her.

Nodding her head up and down, El answers, “Yes. He’s great and he makes you  _ smiwe”  _ She reaches out to push the corner of his lip up, and he lets out a light laugh and grabs hold of her hand.

“He does,” He gives her hand a small squeeze. “Okay. I’ll ask if he wants to join us. Now, go learn.”

El gets out of the car, and he watches as she enters the school before pulling away so he could get to work. 

Reggie had asked Luke I he wanted to come along, and Luke accepted it. So, here they were after Reggie had picked up both Luke and El, at the bookstore. Walking into the store, Reggie recognised the old lady behind the counter, her name was Tazmin, was the one of the other workers he liked at this store. She looked up as they entered and he smiled at her, and her jaw dropped, especially when she looked down at El. 

She quickly got out from behind the counter and walked up to them, “Oh my... I had heard, you’re alive. Reggie, it’s been so long,” She says as she grabs hold of his face in her hand as if she couldn’t believe it. “Where have you been?”

“Been in Philly, my dad moved me with Jess. Apparently, my dad was her boyfriend,” Reggie answers, “Um, I moved back last year roughly.”

“Oh my, it’s just so...  _ so _ is that...” She points towards El, and “Jess told us she was pregnant before she left.”

“Yeah, this is El, my half-sister,” Reggie replies, and taps El’s shoulder before leaning down to her, “El, this is one of your mum’s old friends. Say Hi.”

“Hi,” El responds with a bright smile upon her lips. “Reg, can I go with Luke to find a book?”

Reggie nodded his head, and continued talking with Tazmin. Smiling as he watched in the corner of his eyes as his boyfriend and sister go off into the store.

“One book,” El states as she stands in front of one of the aisles of books, “We get  _ one book _ today, then dinner and today I get ice cream!”

Luke stood near El, eyes raking over the books, “Is there a reason for ice cream?” Luke knew how Reggie tended to use ice cream as a treat because it wasn’t all the  _ cheap _ , so he learnt that Reggie rewards El for accomplishments with the cold treat.

“I can say _ Luke _ ,” She turns to beam at him, and it takes a few moments for it to process and he beamed down at her. The  _ w _ sound no longer there and it was more of the  _ L _ it’s supposed to be, and Luke was so happy for El. “Luke. Luke, you make Reggie  _ smiwe _ , I  _ wike _ you a wot.”

“Awww, that means a lot to me,” Luke replies, and goes to reach out for a book title that grabbed his attention. He sits on the floor, and El immediately climbs onto his lap and it reminds him of Zoe, his own daughter was always quick to jump into anyone’s lap – especially if they had a book in hand. “What about this book, huh?”

“Read me some,” El asks, looking up at him with a smile and  _ kids _ were his weakness and he started to read the start of the book.

They were just about finished the first chapter when Reggie came and found them, Reggie was looking fondly at the pair. It still kind of stunned Reggie that he now has a partner who is okay with El, and his relationship with his sister. Granted, his last relationship was  _ well _ not the best in many different ways. “You found a book?” Reggie asks, and El nods her head.

“This one,” She says pointing to the one in Luke’s hand.

“Awesome. Let’s pay for it, and go get dinner. What are you wanting El?”

El was finally asleep in bed, and Luke and Reggie were laying in Reggie’s bed together. They were facing each other, “Explain book day?” Luke asks softly.

“It’s something Jess started before she died. On the anniversary of my suicide attempt,” Reggie doesn’t miss the quick flash of hurt that spread through Luke’s eyes. “She would take me and El to get a book each, and she’d ask me what I wanted for dinner. Then, after Jess died, I continued doing it with El, because honestly, I think I really needed the distraction on this particular day. Something to look forward too, I guess, especially back then. It was small, and Jess was kind to me long before I knew she was with my father. I wanted to keep her memory alive in ways I could.”

Luke nods his head lightly, “Wait... you said  _ each _ . Jess would get you each a book, but El told me you only get  _ one _ book?”

“I wasn’t raking in the money Luke, I could only afford one book while also making sure El was feed,” He also doesn’t add that he also spent a lot of his money on alcohol, but that maybe a given. But, one thing he’d pride himself on – was always making sure there was food before alcohol. Because the thought of El going hungry just makes him feel sick, he knows what it’s like to not eat because his own parents forgot to make dinner so he went without. “Also, when I moved out of my fathers, I had to pay bills. El was too young to remember we use to do two books, and I don’t mind getting her whatever book she wants.”

Leaning in to press a soft kiss to Reggie’s lips, Luke smiles fondly at his boyfriend, “Is there a book you’ve been dying to get?” Luke asks, resting his hand against Reggie’s cheek and rubbing his thumb softly against it.

Reggie shrugged softly, “I have a list of books I want to read, but I can’t afford another book right now. Not this week, or next week – bills come out. I’m fine with going without.”

“That wasn’t my question Reg. Give me the list, and  _ I’ll _ buy you a book, okay,” Luke tells him, before pulling Reggie into his chest and his boyfriend automatically curled into him. “I’m so happy you’re still here,” He presses a soft kiss to the top of Reggie’s hair.

It went quiet between them for a few moments, before Luke remembered something he had been wanting to talk to Reggie about. In fact, he was going to bring it up two weeks ago but he had come home to a sick Reggie.  But now the thought was back in his head.

“Reg... I was thinking,” Hearing Reggie hum in acknowledgement, Luke continues, “My lease is ending soon... what if I moved in, like permanently. I mean, I’m here whenever I don’t have Zoe. Though, that would mean you’d have to be okay with Zoe for like three to four days out of the week. Then, we could split the bills.”

Reggie shifts so he is perched on Luke’s chest and looking at him, “You want to move in? With me and El?”

Luke let out a small laugh, “Yeah. Pretty sure I practically live here anyway. I love you, and El. I know you two are a package deal.”

“Like you and Zoe. I would be okay with that. We would need to talk to them, though. Get their thoughts, I don’t want to just  _ spring _ this on them. I know what a sudden move is like,” Reggie informs Luke who nods his head, and a smile tugs at Reggie’s lips, “I love you.”

He presses a soft kiss to Luke’s lips before curling cuddling back into him, and closing his eyes, letting sleep take over him.


End file.
